Soup kitchen wins supreme award

The Compassion Soup Kitchen in Wellington was the supreme winner at the 2018 Wellington Airport Regional Community Awards ceremony on July 26. The soup kitchen, which has been run by the Sisters of Compassion for more than 100 years, also won the Health and Well-being category.

Compassion Soup Kitchen manager Karen Holland said: “This is a wonderful acknowledgement of the work of the sisters and our volunteers. The Sisters of Compassion
have worked in partnership with many volunteers and benefactors for over 100 years. We are so proud to be a part of the story of Suzanne Aubert, the sisters and the Wellington community. Thank you to the Wellington City Council, Wellington Community Trust and to the Wellington Airport Regional Community Awards for this recognition of years of service.”

The Compassion Soup Kitchen was originally started by Suzanne Aubert in Wellington to help people in need to live with dignity in the community.

The soup kitchen is still running today, serving breakfast and dinner six days a week, as well as running a purposeful activities programme including fishing, gardening, sewing, writing groups and access to computers. The soup kitchen has more than 200 volunteers who help in the kitchen, dining room, with the purposeful activities project and also share their talents to help whanau.

The Wellington Airport Regional Awards are run by Wellington International Airport, the Wellington Community Trust and five local councils, with the focus of the awards being to celebrate volunteers for their valuable contribution to society.

The Compassion Soup Kitchen will now be in the Regional Award Finals to be held in November this year.

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